Season of the Dead
by Beatcrusher
Summary: She might be brave and she might be strong, but in the end she's nothing more but a girl of eighteen in the world that's crawling with the dead, their stench poisoning the air and the mind. And once the loneliness is wiped away and there's a shoulder to lean on, can one learn not to be alone all over again? [Original characters, however will have references to the show's plot.]
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue [Of heat, crickets and decisions]**

_ It's a very strange world after all. The strangest I would say if other worlds existed but, truth to be told, I'm not so sure this one exists anymore either. _

It was hot, so hot that you could've seen the sky mirrored on the concrete and you could've felt little beads of sweat racing each other down your forehead until they met that so feared and gruesome end of falling into the hot nothingness. The footsteps echoed throughout the silence of the day, fighting for dominance with the sound of deep breaths drawn and few curses spoken in that perfect singing voice that sounded more like chiming of the bells than anything else.

She was just a girl of no more than eighteen, messy brown curls tied into a pony-tale, random strands bouncing up and down with every step. She seemed like nothing special and maybe that was just because she wasn't; nothing special that is. Just a small figure in the distance cutting through the silence like a rusty knife through a half-melted piece of butter. It was a beautiful and somewhat twisted allegory however no one really cared for fancy words anymore, as they lost their value long long time ago. Truth to be told it was silence that she craved for because there were only two choices – either deafening silence or the sound of your flesh being torn right off your bones.

"My name is Katherine, I am eighteen years old, was born in San Francisco..." She turned her head suddenly as her little mantra was interrupted by the sound somewhere nearby making her stop in her track and turn her head to the right as if waiting for something to appear from around the corner. Fingers were trailing the cold metal blade of the hunting knife that so comfortably rested against her thigh, ready to be used on anything — and anyone — that was lurking in the shadows. "Just the damn wind," she murmured to herself and after a second of hesitation the familiar sound of boots hitting the road resumed. "It's been seven months and twelve days since...since...this whole world went to _shit_."

Words that previously stung now meant nothing; it was more of a tactical step so not to go insane or not to forget, but somewhere deep inside she knew that the time of insanity was coming as there was that one simple question – just how long one can survive in the world like this before going completely numb and withdrawing back to the primal instincts of slay-eat-repeat? And in the end, was there something worth fighting for? She might've felt strong and she indeed felt alive, but maybe it was nothing more but her deceiving herself, pretending that there was some sort of a finish line that she needed to reach, a prize at the end of the labyrinth, a minotaur to kill and a town to save, but... There were no towns, there were no bounds and there was no light at the end of the tunnel anymore, no light that she was chasing so restlessly just so to bump into another brick wall and start again.

"Way to be optimistic, Katherine." She muttered in quite an annoyed manner while her fingers caught that rebellious strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear. The backpack was beginning to weight her down or maybe it was the fact that all she managed to find was few cans of soup that would be enough for no more than few days. She swept the town clean during those few months of living there and she knew that the inevitable was closer than ever – she had to leave and find a new place to settle down before moving on once again. But she liked the town of Nowhereville , as she liked to call it, maybe just because she had it all memorized; every street and every corner, every shop, every house, every corpse of both humans and walkers alike rotting in the sun on the corner of what long long time ago was a peaceful neighbourhood with white fences and apple trees. The area was far from an American dream, but Katherine liked it nonetheless. It was her town and it ached to think about leaving.

The house — her house — was finally visible in the distance and she could almost feel the taste of safety of four walls and boarded-up windows in her mouth. Safety was everything those days and she was lucky to find a place to call home; funny how people could get so attached to something that was nothing else but a building right in the depths of hell. Probably others were the same, but she weren't able to vouch for the idea as she haven't seen anyone human in a very long while and so usually it seemed that the world was her own private nightmare that she was stuck in for an obscure amount of time.

"Home sweet home." She almost sang while locking and barricading the door with the dresser, already kicking off the heavy boots that felt like a pure torture to her feet. The house was quite a big one and that was one of the perks of living in the town alone – there was no competition and since the world went to hell real estate became easily obtainable. The corners of her mouth rose up just a bit, turning her expression into the one of dark glee that was caused by that one poor joke, but... Just how picky one could've been at times like those?

A knife sank into a metal of the can and after working on it for few more seconds it was open, filling the air with a faint aroma of chicken broth and making Katherine's mouth water at the very same time. She stopped being picky long long time ago and after all those months food that she once despised was the best thing to happen throughout the day. Even if cold and with bits of fat swimming in it, the can was quickly emptied and tossed aside as if it never existed to begin with. She fought the urge to doom the second one into the very same destiny and only after a minute of squinting at it she finally jumped up from the chair and strutted into the bedroom almost theatrically.

Even though the night was coming, the heat never disappeared and at some point she caught herself wandering if it ever would. So used to hearing crickets outside on hot summer nights, Katherine closed her eyes and tried to imagine the sound long forgotten only to find herself in a complete silence sometimes interrupted by the sound of her own failure. A sigh escaped her as she kicked and turned in her bed unable to sleep even though there was nothing else to do but that. She was restless just because her mind was made up – it was time to leave that cosy nest that she spent so much time in and finally move on into the unknown. The idea, the plan itself frightened her but at the same time she could taste that sweet spice of challenge awaiting. And she was nothing if not a survivor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1 [Of sightseeing, dilemmas and blood]**

Morning finally came though at some point it — the time — was simply crawling little by little or so it felt like. A shaky hand rose so to rub puffy eyes that haven't seen a decent night sleep for what seemed like an eternity. Whether it was the anxiety or sleep wasn't coded in her genes anymore Katherine didn't know and she couldn't afford to waste her time and sanity both while pondering what the right answer was.

Waking up, forcing herself out of the bed felt like the most painful thing and both her muscles and head ached with the fatigue and the thought of the unknown. For a moment there she simply stood in the middle of the room, looking for good enough of an excuse not to leave, not to go looking, not to move for the whole day and simply stay in the bed that seemed ever so inviting with every minute that passed. An almost violent shake of her head sent messy curls flying to all directions before landing peacefully back on her shoulders. Katherine's breathing was interrupted by few sharp-drawn breaths that were meant for nothing more but to waste time while pretending.

"Way to go, little-miss-ambitious. Choosing starving instead..." She mumbled under her nose while throwing few things that were left lying around to her bag. There was no time — and no need — to get settled in or decorate, everything was kept in one place most of the time and that place was a large black bag- a reminder that she had to be ready every second of every day to grab it and leave. That was the idea; however it didn't work out once the decision to leave had to be made intentionally rather than to simply run away from a hoard of walkers. Funny thing as at some point she even wished for it just because that and only that seemed like a reason good enough.

It took her more time than planned to finally close a heavy wooden door behind and make her way to a car safely hidden in the garage. A vehicle was probably the hardest thing to find in the streets full of nothing but parts and scraps of metal lying around, pieces and fragments left from the times when everyone was trying to run away, hoping that there indeed was such thing as _away_ on this earth. The rest of cars got drained out of gas or taken apart piece by piece by people travelling through the town and ransacking everything on their way. Katherine got lucky, though, and the car she took to escape her own hell was still with her – old and rusty but working as a charm.

Throwing her belongings on the back seat she allowed herself to take a final look around that almost peaceful little nest that she made for herself in all those months, feeling like a little bird that finally had to leave and fly away to the broad horizons of the new world. Difference was that little birds usually weren't flying into the death trap intentionally and she, sadly, was.

Motor coughed few times until finally giving in and filling the silence with its violent purring as she slowly drove out of the garage and onto the road that welcomed her with mayhem of cars and bodies of walkers lying around. It was quite a grotesque picture and probably it was the only thing that kept her from turning around to bid those last farewells and forced her to speed away quite recklessly. One thing about the apocalypse was the fact that there was no one to give you a ticked for speeding in residential — or all other — areas.

...

As much as she hated the heat, once sun got dangerously close to the horizon Katherine started panicking. She drove for hours and yet there was no place to settle for the night as both woods and the shelter of the car were nothing more but a suicide at the very least.

"Shit shit shit..." Every word was followed by her hitting the wheel and hitting the accelerator at the same time until the car started roaring so loudly that it could've woken not only the walkers lurking there somewhere but all hell-hounds up. Eyes were desperately searching for at least something to use as the last resort until finally, somewhere far in the distance, she saw a once bright sign of CHEVRON that was now covered with dust and harsh kisses of time. Letting out a sigh she finally started slowing down, pondering just how foolish of an idea it was to stop at the place like this and spend a night with corpses of the personnel rotting — or maybe even walking — there somewhere. But it was too late to drive any further and so, sending the pebbles flying around, she pulled over behind the building so not to leave any evidence there in the open that someone was taking cover in the little building, being nothing but a sitting duck for any and every stranger.

It seemed silent as she was almost tip-toeing over to the filthy window just so to take a peek inside and make sure that there were no nasty surprises. It was deserted and for a second she finally could breathe again just until that moment when the door gave in with a loud creek making Katherine clench the handle of her knife in panic. One might think that after dealing with so many walkers people got used to it, however this was probably a thing that no one — under any circumstances — were able not to care about anymore. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was hard to live with the idea that at any minute someone might want to eat your face off. Or maybe because getting used to massacre meant losing those last pieces of humanity all together. And if so, what was the point in fighting so hard to stay human?

It was a welcomed train of thoughts as it distracted her just a bit, making those few steps inside seem easier. The place was swept clean — probably gas stations were somewhat of an attraction point — and it seemed that it was quite safe as well. Barricading the doors was stupid as there were so many windows to break if someone needed to, but she herself felt safer and so, after pushing some shelves around Katherine slid down the wall behind the counter until hitting the ground and burying her head in her hands. Even though she was just driving for the whole day, it took so much energy out of her that she felt as if running a marathon or two. She might've been scared and feeling uneasy but the fatigue took over and after few seconds, without even noticing, she drifted away into the dreamless sleep.

It was a loud thud that made her almost jump up into the air, pressing both hands on her mouth so not to let out any noises. Someone was definitely out there as footsteps echoed in the distance louder with every second that was wasted by her trying to pull herself together. It felt like her body was frozen for a moment however the scent of danger gave her the kick needed so to peek from around the corner of the little hideout just to see a couple of walkers peacefully making their way towards the entrance, however them being there definitely didn't bring any peace. Their slimy dead hands brushed against the glass now, giving them balance for their adventures of the night.

There was no time to think and she starter crawling silently around the counter, making her way towards the back door so to jump into the car and drive away, but... A shard of glass was enough to ruin the plan as it pierced through the skin of her palm and didn't stop until a somewhat silent whimper left her. Silent? Maybe. But it was enough for four ears to hear and four dead eyes to see a figure crouching there in the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2 [Of brutality, fire and clichés]**

The suspense was nerve-wrecking, time spent in a simple eye contact between the living and the dead seemed to stop and only a loud groan that protruded from one of the walker's chest was what made Katherine to finally draw a breath. For a split second there she hoped that they haven't seen her or that they would disregard her presence, but probably poor bastards went hungry while walking around such a deserted area as that one.

A fist colliding with the glass made her finally jump up on her feet and unsheathe the knife, ready to spill some dead blood right there on the filthy floor. Her feet, however, felt as if glued to the floor and Katherine felt nothing but completely and utterly weak in the moment of danger. _'I'm a lover, not a fighter."_ She always used to say to herself and even if last months changed something, last months forced her to adapt, some things simply wewren't a subject of change; she was never the one to wield the knife just for her own sick satisfaction as so many people did. But it was pathetic that even in situations like these she still had to jump over a mental barrier just so to be able to defend herself.

_I'm having a hard time  
I'm making you do the hard time too.  
I'm stuck in a bad way  
And I'm gonna make you pay for it._

"Well, let's dance, shall we?" A question spoken in a shaky voice quickly evaporated into the madness and just as her grip tightened on the handle, wandering gaze caught a sight of shadows getting closer. Distracted by the loud bangs to glass that was about to crack, she didn't realize that rarely do walkers wander alone, and their moans and groans were enough to break all hell lose, sending what seemed like waves of corpses to their direction, crawling from out of the shadows. It wasn't the time to dance anymore, it was clearly the time to turn around, to run away as fast as anyone could and so she did. Shaky hand gripped the handle of the back door that she used to get here in the first place just so to come face-to-face with one of them, causing her to bury the knife right between the eyes of what long time ago was a man, sending its limp — and finally truly dead — body to the floor.

"Shit." She breathed out, looking at the knife still stuck in the rotten skull of the other. Even if she wasn't that good with guns, knives and killing in general, Katherine's reflexes were spot-on. And especially situations like these kept her always on the edge and always ready to do what needed to be done.

She struggled only for a moment before reaching down and claiming the only weapon she had back. The car was few steps away and so she practically flew there, prying the door wide open and then slamming them behind her as the other hand was fishing the keys out of the pocket. The situation wasn't like the one in cheap horror movies where the heroine drops her keys on the floor few times and then struggles with the ignition until a bad guy is practically knocking on the window. No, she managed to do everything in a lightning speed and the motor was roaring louder than ever as she hit the accelerator and drove away from the little building that was already infested by walkers. There were few on her way out as well, trying to reach her, trying to stop the car with nothing but their own bodies, but she didn't stop, she didn't hesitate for as much as a second anymore and some, the unlucky few were knocked out of the way, literally losing their heads.

Only when she couldn't see the gas station in the mirror anymore, Katherine finally started thinking about the road ahead and driving like she didn't have a death-wish. Slowing down just slightly she finally took few deep breaths, trying to calm that panicky heartbeat of hers. She turned her head so to look at the road behind, not realizing that even if there was no traffic anymore, it didn't mean that roads were any safer. She hit the brakes right after her gaze went back to the road, but it was just a bit too late as the lone walker was too close to be avoided and her trying to somehow manoeuvre around it while in such speed sent the car right out of the road and into the nearest tree where the sound of metal being welcomed by the wood broke the faux silence that the area held.

Whether it was the shock or the fact that with all the bad luck in the world, it was not enough to kill her, Katherine was still conscious and even if she felt the blood now trickling from her forehead it didn't take her clear mind away. Pillars of smoke started getting thicker, however she still reached back for her back before jumping out of the maimed car and limping away as fast as she could before it all caught on fire. She wanted to curse and she wanted to simply pass out, but her head was completely empty and body was resisting as hard as it could so to keep her on her feet, carrying her deeper into the woods until finally the flames disappeared and so did she.

Maybe the woods weren't the safest place, but truth to be told, no place was safe anymore. She sat on a fallen tree and wiped away the blood with the back of her hand, locking her eyes in that red trace while trying to contemplate everything that happened. However, there was no past anymore, there was only the future, and in that future she was a girl, far away from civilization and having nothing but a knife and that one last can of soup.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3 [Of mirages, filth and revival]**

Katherine lost the count of days that she spent wandering around in the woods, feeling every minute rolling down her spine and pulling her closer to the ground. The most tragic thing was the fact that the food was long gone, however the remains of pain and shock were still there as if burnt into her flesh, pumping through her veins with every loud heartbeat echoing in the grotesque silence. Silence might've been good, however at times it felt so heavy that it took her sanity away, making her start running, then limping and finally crawling into what seemed like little sparkles of light further down the path but turned out to be nothing but yet another nasty trick of the wounded mind.

She came across few lone walkers every now and then but in those moments of temporary madness she didn't hesitate or hold back to silence them with the help of her still bloody knife. Katherine's clothes slowly turned to nothing more but dirty rags and she herself could only imagine how much of a bloody mess she was. That didn't matter in the world like this, however sometimes she spent hours while sitting with her eyes closed, remembering those times with showers, clean clothes and overall peace that spoiled everyone until the point that they couldn't value simple things like those anymore. Oh, she could've given so much just to get at least a little part of that life back.

A wooden branch that she used to help her walk started to be more of an impediment later on as the soft soil tried to claim it to itself and so it ended up slowing her down rather than aiding her in the journey. However she still kept it and used it just because it felt like that was the only thing she could lean on in need. One could think that after so many months spent living in a world like this getting used to hardships was a given, however she always tried to lay low and stay safe, make a nest and live there for as long as it was possible and right then she was simply plucked out of that post-apocalyptic comfort and spat out into the post-apocalyptic hell.

Finding a little stream of water bubbling right out of the ground was the very first good thing in all those days and for a moment she was tempted to never leave that place, to simply sit there and drink until she withered and died. However that little annoying voice in her head kept on nagging her, kept on insisting that there was something up ahead, that there was a place she was looking for, that there was a place that would serve as a shelter that would erase her misery and make everything good again.

And so she walked and she ran, and she crawled until there, straight ahead was the first sign of civilization, a little blink of the sunlight reflecting from the skylights of the houses. For the first time in days she smiled and then she started giggling until that turned into the full-blown hysterical laughter, laughter that makes your eyes water and your lungs empty just so to draw another breath and start laughing again. She couldn't be more happy, and she was definitely the luckiest girl in the world, or at least that was what she thought at that moment, standing there and laughing, covered in a thick crust of mud and blood but with a twinkle of light in her green eyes, twinkle of light that was both the sun and the happiness mixing up in one.

There was no time to waste anymore and she started climbing down the hill she was standing on, eyes focused in one house in particular - the house with skylights that was her beacon of safety at that point. Maybe the place was infested with walkers and maybe something even more dangerous lurked there, but she didn't care as after the misery started evaporating, fatigue took its place and so she could hardly keep her eyes open and her body straight while reaching out her hand to turn the handle and let herself in.

The house was...different at the very least. It held the atmosphere of someone's presence there, it didn't smell like one of those long abandoned houses she had lived in before and so for a moment there Katherine froze completely, trying to listen to footsteps or to voices, but there was nothing. Windows of the first floor were boarded up and mattresses were lying in the middle of the living room, clearly indicating that poor souls were taking shelter there. Maybe she had to be more careful and maybe she had to care more, but there was no place for being careful in her head anymore and so, pushing the table to the door she threw the bag onto the floor and sank onto one of the mattresses, closing her eyes for what felt as a second but was twelve or more hours instead.

...

Katherine stretched her sore muscles, afraid to open her eyes and realize that all that was just and dream and as soon as she looked around there would be nothing but trees and moss all around her. It was a reasonable fear that she had to overcome and so, only after a minute or two, she finally opened one eye and the sight of worn-off green wallpaper greeted her. A sigh of relief left her and she managed to sit up, rubbing her eyes and running her hand through the messy hair just to realize what shape she still was in.

Even if the house was inhabited before, no one seemed to come back during the night as the table was still there and the silence was as loud as it was before. She stood up slowly, for the first time taking more time to look around and to drink in every detail, every item, every corner... It was messy and kind of filthy, however as long as there were no corpses around, it was as good as any other house around. The latter thought made her flinch and pull the knife out while climbing down the stairs and looking around, checking every room for anyone — or anything — until her gaze froze on a big basin of water in the bathroom – clearly someone's golden idea of preserving the rain water and using it to the fullest.

Clothes were thrown on the floor as she scrubbed and she cleaned, and she scrubbed again, every inch of her skin, every pore until there was nothing more but several cuts and bruises all over her body, her hair dripping from water and her spirits higher than ever.

People were more than welcome to come back for all she cared as in that moment she felt more human and more alive than ever.

A change of clothes was still in her bag and so she slid into the pair of old jeans and a hoodie before checking out the rest of the rooms upstairs, and stumbling upon a little black book on the nightstand by one of the beds in what seemed like master bedroom. It was worn off and scribbled full in tiny neat letters at first that turned into messy few words written every here and there all over the pages.

_'Robert was bitten... Shit' _

_'We buried another one today. I see how everyone is less and less fazed by death every time.'_

_'Today they came knocking.'_

Every entry got less and less understandable later on as if words of a pure madman were flowing through her eyes, making it more and more difficult to pull away.

Until a loud thud downstairs made her snap out of that daze...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4 [Of stealth, strength and heartbeats]**

Katherine's hand flew up to her mouth so to silence a whimper that was threatening to shatter the silence that downed on the house seconds after it was vandalized. She could do nothing but hope that it was just a bird, a branch breaking of the tree and bumping into the house, maybe even a lone walker that lost its ability to walk for a moment and had to look for a surface to help, but... She could feel someone else, she could almost smell her own naive optimism filling the room and getting ready to be shattered to dust.

She finally lowered the book and stood up slowly, reaching for her knife to protect her, however the hand froze midway as the knife was never there with her to begin with. And there it was – a vivid memory of her tossing it aside while dressing up and then leaving it there so thoughtlessly. Katherine closed her eyes and held her breath for a moment, trying to listen to sounds — any kind of sounds — coming from downstairs, however there was nothing but just the echo of her own frantic heartbeat.

"Shit." A curse rolled down her lips in the quietest of whispers as hands were already clenched into fists and mind working only on coming up with a plan — any kind on a plan, really — of what to do next. The one and only thought on her mind was to somehow get that knife that was her only mean of protection against something that might've been just a creation of her imagination and troubled mind.

Slowly, trying not to breathe or even blink, she made her way to the door and peaked from around the corner to what was happening downstairs just to see the table pushed away and the doors slightly ajar. That alone was a sign that whatever noises she heard and whatever thoughts she had were nothing compared to the reality where something let themselves in the house where she was hiding, currently unarmed and in no condition to protect herself for long.

The area, however, seemed empty and she knew that there was no time to waste, just time to act and do it fast. Katherine might not have been good at fighting, however the girl had some stealth and so she sneaked silently to the top of the stairs and crouched there, trying to see at least a shadow or to hear some sort of a noise that would give her an idea around which corner the danger was hiding in. But there was nothing and just as she saw the knife lying on the floor she knew what needed to be done.

She ran down the stairs almost not touching the surface, jumping over the mattress and once her fingers could already touch the handle a click of the trigger made her freeze instantly. She had her back on whoever was there, clearly pointing a gun at her, and so she squeezed her eyes shut and drew a sharp breath, too afraid to turn around just so to see a bullet coming her way. If she was about to die, she sure as hell didn't want to witness it.

"Don't." A voice cracked that temporary silence that dawned on the room, a voice of a man, the voice of another human being, however just as hostile as any of the walkers were; the difference was that walkers were stupid and slow, while this one had the gun and the upper hand.

"Push the knife away." His command made her blood boil, but she did listen and the hand that was still desperately reaching for it was forced to push it aside, send it sliding over the wooden floor until a wall stopped it. Katherine's gaze followed the metal, her only weapon that she herself had to give away.

"I don't have anything. But take whatever you want and leave." She finally whispered, still not turning around to look at the intruder, feeling that it was the best way to survive through all this. He was talking to her, he wasn't killing her just yet and so she took his doubts as the advance she had in this situation. He wasn't a bandit, he wasn't a killer and for whatever reason he was there, it wasn't just so to kill his boredom by spilling someone's blood.

"Where are they?" His voice sounded icy cold, however there was no doubt that the tone of voice had a hint anxiousness.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"DON'T!" Man's voice rose and she felt a shiver rolling down her spine. The situation wasn't going so good and there were fewer chances for her to get out alive from this.

"Listen..." Her voice was calm, almost soothing and she started slowly getting up until she stood straight with her hands up in the air, fretting the moment that was about to come as her body started turning around so to finally look at the figure behind her.

He was maybe only few years older than her, but his overall posture was obviously the one of a person that has been through hell and back more than once. Dark brown eyes were narrowed while looking at her, black circles around them, few cuts on his face and hands and plenty of blood stains on his clothes. He was more of a mess than she was yesterday, but his hands didn't tremble a bit while he was still pointing the gun at her.

It was a crazy world after all, the world where not only the dead were a threat, but the living too. Anyone, even kids, were never to be trusted and she knew it perfectly well, hover at that time she was at the other end of the barrel and so that knowledge was good as nothing. However there was another thing she knew – getting a bit more personal with an enemy usually increased the chances of staying alive. It was a silly knowledge from a movie or a book that she read long long time ago, however right then she definitely had nothing to lose.

"Listen, I'm sorry broke in here, I... I needed a place to stay, alright? A place to sleep. I will be going now, just... Lower the gun." She took one step backwards, looking at her bag with a corner of her eyes just to see him raising his gun even higher, pointing it right in between her eyes.

Was she done? Will it be fast? Will she feel the pain and will she see the light in the tunnel as everyone was saying?

He didn't move or speak for a moment and she was counting her breaths then, trying to find something to occupy herself with while in those last seconds she had. Twenty breaths later, however, he took a step himself; and then another. Never lowering his gun, never breaking eye contact between them. Few more steps and he was at the door and then gone as unexpectedly as he arrived.

Katherine finally took a deep deep breath and at that moment her knees have in, making her collapse on the ground and bury her face in her palms.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5 [Of changes, mysteries and determination]**

Sun was slowly finishing its journey through the sky and last the orange rays danced on Katherine's hair while she was looking at the town that for the time being became her home.

She was sure to leave her first shelter right after coming eye-to-eye with the intruder that day and found herself a smaller, older and more desolated house to settle in for a while, but at least that one was her own and she hoped that no nasty surprises in a form of a man bearing a gun would barge in any time soon.

She was sure to gather few things from there before leaving and even though that didn't make her proud, this was the world now. Everyone was looking for personal gain; everyone was trying to survive by any means possible. She tried to look at the situation through her fingers as stealing wasn't as bad as killing, but that was nothing else but neglecting the truth.

Only few things were worth taking anyway and that was an old shotgun she found hidden well under the sink and that black book that didn't have anything of value written in it, but still made Katherine's curiosity burn as bright as ever. And that evening she was sitting on top of the roof with both her new gun and the book by her side while watching the sunset.

Who was that man? Who were the people living in the house? Family? Friends? Enemies? Where did they go and why they left him behind? Were they killed? Turned? Running from something? Or someone?

So many questions were spinning in her head and only the book was capable of feeding that curiosity. She tried hard to look for any clues, to find something scribbled in those pages that would finally set her mind at ease instead of focusing on things that shouldn't even matter anyway. But the stranger's haunted look, his tone of voice, his shattered determination to find them after she told that there was no one there still haunted her and she had to squeeze her eyes shut from time to time after remembering those few moments that seemed to drag out for days.

"I will go just as insane as the writer was if I keep on reading this." She closed the book and after a moment of looking at its stained covers simply threw it to the street below, hearing a silent thud when it reached the sidewalk before lying down and watching the sky above.

She wanted to leave the town, she wanted to move on and maybe find something that might've been waiting there, but past events and her very unsuccessful trip here in the first place was what stopped Katherine from yet another impulsive action. She was well aware that her still being alive was nothing else but sheer luck, a brilliant accident that wasn't even supposed to happen; but it did and she didn't want to waste it just yet.

Sky started getting darker and Katherine didn't want to risk being found out. The town was way more infested than the previous one was and there were always few walkers around in the streets, growing larger in numbers at nights. She might've had her gun, but for one who had no training at shooting it really meant but providing a false feeling of safety, that, in the end, was still better than nothing.

She never even held a gun in her hands. He father never took her hunting and, after all, she was a big town's girl and those girls never get any valuable life lessons unless you count shopping and partying as one.

No, she wasn't one of those people who dedicate their lives just for fun, but maybe it was just because she really didn't have much time to grow up anyway. Katherine was little over seventeen when her luxurious life shattered to dust; her and everyone else's as well. And since then she had to learn to adapt, she had to learn to survive situations that were a bit harsher than Black Friday sales.

Caught in that train of thoughts she was completely lost to the world as if it didn't even exist anymore and all that she saw were memories so well treasured. That didn't last for long, though, as sounds of cars and shouts broke that walk down the memory lane, making her turn around on her stomach and slide a bit further down the roof so to watch the street and lights coming closer.

"It's empty!" A voice echoed from the distance as she watched the car pull over to one of the houses and a man kicking the door in so to check. A shiver rolled down Katherine's spine as she realised just how close the men were to her house, house that definitely had a touch of someone living there, house that held her things, her belongings even if there weren't so many of those. House that also had a girl lying on the roof and even if just at that time she tried to be nothing more but an invisible shadow, she was just a girl nonetheless.

Last experience definitely didn't help her trust people more and it didn't matter what reasons men had to be there, she definitely wasn't planning to run into them or be noticed altogether.

"Let's go, Dave! We won't find anything here."

"We have orders to follow, or were you too preoccupied to take those in?"

"They're not here and that's exactly what we're going to tell him. I don't think our _orders_ involved scouring this mess of a town."

"The Governor won't be too happy with..."

And with that their voices faded as the engines started roaring even louder, tires squeaking because of the friction that their speeding caused but in few seconds they were already gone and Katherine finally took a deep breath, still not moving though as her gaze was glued to the house that the men were searching.

It was the very same house she spent a night at few days ago, the very same house that she was nearly killed at, the very same house that apparently held some sort of story behind, a story much deeper and darker that she could've imagined.

At that very same moment she finally located the little black book lying down there on the concrete.

It had to hold some answers after all. She just had to know how to look for them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6 [Of disappointment, conversations and temper]**

_'Today we made our first deal with them. The terror caused by their presence made me close my eyes and remember sunny beaches and waves washing the sand from under my feet..."_

An exaggerated sigh was all the reaction Katherine could give after scanning yet another page trough. She spent most of her waking hours with the book, however as soon as silly babble started making any sort of sense it would go back to reminiscing about world long gone and days forgotten. As if whatever happened was too horrible or too secretive to write down to these pages and so it was all buried under random lines of words.

She was too involved for her own good, but there was not much to keep oneself occupied by at those times. Or maybe she only needed a good enough excuse to channel all her free time into something harmless rather than forcing herself out the door and into the ghost town that apparently held few quite lively souls wandering around.

That temporary stagnation that she was suffering form, however, seemed to drain her strength and power of will with every hour that passed instead of helping her recover as she initially thought. Four walls, endless darkness and walkers groaning around the house at nights didn't help her to keep the spirits up and little by little a spark or resistance to the daily routine was growing brighter and brighter within her.

Katherine jumped up from the armchair with such haste that her head started spinning and the room went black for few moments. It seemed like her body was acting on its own accord, not paying much attention to her mind, guiding her to the corner where all the thing were at, reaching down to pick up the knife and then the shotgun, throwing it over her shoulder and sliding the blade into the sheath. Katherine stood like this for a moment, taking few deep breaths as if preparing before picking up the backpack and turning the handle so to be greeted by the daylight that felt like the biggest enemy to her sight.

It was yet another hot day, so hot that even walkers seemed to be hiding somewhere cold and dark which meant that her walking down the street didn't draw any unnecessary attention. Manoeuvring around the cars and being careful so not to step on broken glass she was making her way forwards even if that way wasn't leading anywhere in particular.

Abandoned houses and old playgrounds was the only thing she saw around for what seemed to be miles and just as her so suddenly born determination started fading away as quickly as it appeared, a bright smile graced her features as an abandoned shop came in sight. There were next to no chances that after all that time it still had something of value, however she was willing to take a risk and find it out by herself rather than assuming something that was completely unpredictable.

Shotgun was more of a lucky token to her but the knowing that it won't protect her very well didn't stop Katherine from gripping it tightly before entering the musty room that reeked of filth and neglect. Even though windows were long gone and it was still bright outside it seemed that even light didn't want to go inside with her and so she stood there for a while, scanning the room for any nasty surprises that could come out crawling.

It seemed empty, though, maybe even too empty as the shelves were covered in nothing more but a thick layer of dust and cobwebs that were abandoned long time ago, leaving this place even emptier. Prospects of finding food or anything at least slightly useful were looking grim and so did Katherine. She cursed silently while pinching the bridge if her nose, trying her best not to lose it completely. There had to be something, _had_ to be something she could use, something she could take so that this whole foolish trip wouldn't be as worthless as it was turning out to be in the end.

She took her time going through the shelves, even kneeling on the floor so to look under them, hoping that no one did this before and she was about to find all sorts of things that others forgot. It was a beautiful hope that got shattered moments later, making Katherine sit on the ground leaning her back to one of the shelves and closing her eyes in frustration_. It's not fair_, she thought to herself, breathing heavily and trying to calm down before leaving. _All this is just...Not fair._

Thoughts, however, were pushed aside as a shard of glass snapped not that far away from her. Whether it was an impulse or she simply was fed up with everything, this time Katherine didn't hide, she simply jumped up aiming the gun right were the noise came from just so to come face-to-face with the very same stranger again, holding his gun up with the very same determination he did days ago. Difference was that that time she had a gun pointed at his face too.

"It's not very nice to walk in on a girl twice in a row, you know." She spat out through her gritted teeth, astonished by the new-found attitude he sparked in her that was mixing up with the previous disappointment very well.

"Do you even know how to use it?" He motioned his gun at her direction, corner of his lip quirking into a smirk that angered her that much more.

"No," Katherine admitted honestly with a little nonchalant shrug. "But I was planning to do some practice. Truth be told, moving target beats bottles and cans by a mile."

The gun was quite heavy, however she tried to hide the fact that her muscles started burning up after another minute standing like that and looking at each other, waiting for either a fight or at least a temporary truce. Nothing seemed to happen and she grew ever so anxious because of the unfortunate meeting; not like it was the first one two of them shared, though.

"Very well, then..." He finally spoke and lowered his gun after yet another moment of silence. That, however, was of no comfort to her and she didn't move by as much as an inch, her face not touched by any emotion but cold determination.

"Found anything here?" He started walking towards the shelves, brushing his finger against one so to look at the dust on it with a grim smile. "Still not putting that gun of yours down, huh? I think there's a better chance of you shooting yourself than anyone else, so..."

"I'll take that risk." She cut him off in mid-sentence, following every movement with both her eyes and the gun, witnessing his smirk turning into a grin that made her roll her eyes in impatience. "I think you should go now."

She was waiting for yet another sharp-witted reply, however just as he was about to open his mouth to give it to her, a walker appeared behind him as if out of nowhere, proving that the two were focused on things that didn't matter, allowing the dead to have an upper-hand even if both of the living were armed.

Right that second both of them disappeared from her sight as the walker grabbed the stranger and pulled him to the ground. Katherine's mouth widened and without wasting a second she ran around the shelf just so to watch the scene of walker trying its best to reach and chew the other's face off while he was trying to grab the gun lying what seemed miles away.

For a moment she caught herself choosing between two evils, thinking which one was more worthy of a bullet, but there was no time as she pulled the fore-end to load it and pulled the trigger moments later.

It seemed like the loud shot echoed through at least half of the town and her shoulder hurt like hell as the gun recoiled, hitting her so hard for a moment she thought that it crushed the bone to dust. But, whether it was the adrenaline or shock, she didn't whimper just lowered the gun looking at the man standing up and cleaning himself from the bloody mess.

"Well, guess you were right." She finally murmured with some sort of dark glee marking her words. "My aim is definitely not the best and you being alive proves it."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7 [Of dead, massacres and tombs]**

Situation that could've been easily turned into a celebration of life and staying alive was completely ruined by the two trying to bite one another with their words. She was shouting and he was being his pompous sarcastic self – something she would've admired under different circumstances however couldn't stand right then and there.

Both were well aware that Katherine didn't mean her very last statement that was what put fuel into the fire, however word spoken was not something that one could've taken back and so just because of her temper she was doomed to suffer a never-ending tirade of insults thrown her way in the softest of purrs and harsh words uttered with the brightest of smiles.

Maybe things would've been different if not for those seven months spent alone, having only few conversations and those were mostly with herself. Under different circumstances she would've simply left him standing there, but there was that twisted longing for something human, something alive even if those wishes were served to her definitely not on the silver platter.

However that didn't last for very long and just as they ran out of new ways to insult each other and a burning pain settled in her temples she realized that this little _bonding experience_ was as good as over. His last words were still echoing in the room, however only silence followed as she locked her gaze on his for a moment before simply turning around on her heel and strutting out the door and into the day that was coming to its end.

She was furious, fuming actually, and that state of mind long forgotten was resurrected by the most obnoxious man she'd ever met. But, on the other hand, somehow even negative things were making her feel more alive than ever, as if her mind was finally awoken from years of lethargy – still rusty however there was no denying that some sort of progress was made.

Running her shaky hand through the hair in sheer frustration she squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, still standing right outside the shop and enjoying a moment of peace that didn't seem to visit her in the past hour or so. That refreshing silence, however, was quickly ruined by a silent groan and then another coming from somewhere around and just as Katherine's eyes flew open she froze in the spot, witnessing a whole pack of walkers moving as slow and twisted shadows right her way.

"Shit." A swear fell from her lips as she turned to the other side planning the escape just to see more of them, dead eyes staring right at her with such burning hunger that she could almost feel it on her own skin, burning holes and sending chills down her spine. It was too late to run away even if there was at least a tiny chance that they didn't notice; and right then, when she was the only attraction, a main course in their rotten brains, Katherine was aware that this time the way back was the only way to go.

"Move!" She called out, bumping her shoulder into the stranger's with a brute force as she stormed right past him and straight to where the back door was. At that moment none of their quarrels mattered as for all she knew - another pair of eyes and another gun was making hell of a lot difference. "Come on, help me with this!"

The doors were jammed by something on the other side and no matter how hard she tried to open them, even bang into it with her shoulder it, didn't move for an inch. Yet another proof that no matter how much she hated admitting it – she needed him to survive this. Walkers were already making their way inside, sounds of cruel hunger and death filling the little room, making her long for that time only both of them were there, making her long for words — no matter how harsh — instead of brainless moaning.

The other, however, didn't seem to waste his time reminiscing as he pushed her away from the door and gave his best shot to open it. Needless to say, there weren't about to catch a break and leave the place any time soon as the door moved for no more than few inches and then came back to its previous position. Katherine's eyes widened as she watched something that were human not so long ago getting closer to them. Shotgun that was forgotten for a while now was the only thing that kept walkers away from them. The shoulder still hurt, but she didn't pay any attention at it and shot everything that got into their comfort zone without a second of doubt. Her aim wasn't as good as she wished and sometimes instead a walker it was a wall nearby or a shelf, but even that seemed to make them freeze for a moment, and at that time even one moment was enough to either keep you alive or to make you not-so-permanently dead.

"Let's go!" His voice, those two short words, was all she needed then and not willing to waste another moment in there she slipped through the door and followed him through the back alley leading to the street and — most importantly — far far away from there. And maybe that tiny hope that there was such place as _'far away from walkers'_ was what made the realization that they were far from safe that much more painful.

Streets seemed to be crawling with them, all making their way to the shop as if they've got a signal about people wandering the streets after dawn, people walking streets when it was their time, their broken kingdom.

"There's no way out... There's no way... We're not getting out alive." Words were spoken in a mere whisper, loud enough for only him to hear and with a corner of her eye she saw his reaction when he did. Turning his head just slightly to look at Katherine whose feet felt like glued to the ground he was drilling holes in her skull with his gaze that was mixed up with both pity and despise. She gave up so easily and he hated it.

"Let's go." Were the only words he said, however, grabbing her hand and pulling her with him as he ran towards the building that didn't seem to be touched or noticed by walkers yet. Heavy metal door creaked and let out few cries before giving in, making few walkers around aware of where their dinner went, but it was too late as he closed it behind him and barricaded it with every piece of furniture standing nearby.

The place was dark, drops of water hitting the floor somewhere further away and stench of mould didn't make it any easier to like it, but at that point that very same place was what kept them safe and none of them could afford to be picky.

The flashlight that Katherine fished out of her bag lit up the place a bit even if using batteries was somewhat of a luxury. Corpses upon corpses were covering the floor only few steps away and even if she wasn't very squeamish, she pressed her hand to her mouth so not to let out a whimper. Those weren't walkers, those were people who were killed while still being alive, people that were shot, people who were still bleeding and still breathing and probably without an idea of what was waiting for them.

The place was a tomb and she couldn't help it but feel like it might've been their tomb as well.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8 [Of silence, tension and alliances]**

It seemed that the time stopped as she stood in the room, her lips parted in a scream that never met the light of the day as she was truly and completely paralyzed. Katherine could feel the other's gaze drilling the back of her head as he — most likely — was waiting for some sort of response that simply never came. The silence was too heavy to bear and the view was too gruesome to survive, however it seemed that her eyes were simply glued to the filthy floor covered in corpses and death.

Some of them were lucky enough to get a bullet to her head while others were doomed to die in a slow and painful death by suffocation or strangling. Mothers, fathers, children, every each one were living their lives while trying to stay away from walkers and turning into one of them, not realizing that the danger was hiding in other survivors just like them and that in the end it would be them who took their lives instead of the walking dead they feared so much.

"Come on, we gotta move." He sounded calm, maybe even a bit too calm to be honest, giving the fact that he might've even known some of those people while they were still alive just as he knew the ones he came looking for on that very first night she spent in this town. A shiver rolled down her spine and she lowered the flashlight so that the light wouldn't be gracing that scene of pure human cruelty.

Coming back to the present hour instead of mingling in the unknown was somewhat of a task, however after few blinks and few more moments she finally could take a look around and even take few steps towards a dark corridor at the end of the room, stepping over the bodies while holding her breath. She could only be grateful that the stranger didn't say anything at all as she felt that the self control she was trying to maintain might've shattered to pieces as soon as she would be forced to talk about what had happened.

Walking around the massive building that long long time ago used to be a factory, the two were looking for a way out, however all they managed to come across were rooms upon rooms full of proof that there were quite a few people who were living there and probably all of them were now lying there in that cold little room reeking of death.

The smartest thing to do was to think of a plan, to plan their escape and the course of action they should've followed as Katherine was sure that streets were still swarmed by walkers, but being smart was not something that she could've forced herself to do and so, wandering around mindlessly, unable to utter a word she was simply clenching the flashlight in her grip so tight that at some point she was finally able to feel something and that something was a piercing pain in her palm.

Finally their silent search came to an end as the other gripped a handle of the nearby door and in a second both of them were taking in gulps of fresh air, savouring every one of them as it felt like a greatest gift after hours of wandering in musty corridors. None dared to talk for a while, but it was just a matter of time as the silence was meant to be broken.

"I need to leave this place." Katherine murmured more to herself than anyone else but the very fact that it was said out loud meant that she needed some sort of response for reasons unknown.

"What makes you think that other towns are any better?" It didn't sound like a question even if meant to be one. Truth be told it sounded like more of an accusation, implying that she was simply naive to have as much as a speck of hope. Katherine's eyes met his in quite a stubborn way as she stood up straight and even lifted her chin as if standing her ground.

"I'd rather take my chances than rot in here for any longer. If you were a smart boy, you'd do the same."

She could clearly see his jaw tensing and his eyes narrowing just slightly as if he was trying not to throw few colourful words back at her. It probably cost him a little bit of effort, but he managed and in a moment his expression became as emotionless as it was few moments ago. He was difficult to read, she had to admit; actually it was almost impossible to tell what was on his mind, but in all honestly – she really didn't want to know as there was a feeling that it might've been quite disturbing.

"Well, the best of luck to you, then. I won't try to reason with the unreasonable." And upon those words he turned around on his heel and started walking away, leaving Katherine to stand in the middle of the street, staring at his back and feeling her blood boiling just the same way it did while both of them were back at the shop. She wasn't about to give in or to let him have the last word. Why? She didn't know and the only explanation she had was that his smug attitude and self-righteousness simply provoked her.

"How many of them did you know? How many of them were your friends, how many of them had your back and had saved your ass during this whole time?" He stopped in his tracks and even if she wasn't feeling proud by bringing the subject up, some sort of a twisted desire to win their final battle was pushing her to carry on with this until her point that was always ignored by the other was finally heard loud and clear. She could see his hands clenching into fists, but he didn't talk and he didn't turn around.

"And yet they're all dead while you still have the luxury of being alive; however you're stuck here just as much as they are, the only difference being that you're the one making this choice consciously." She took a deep breath and her tone dropped to almost a whisper for the very last sentence she had thought of. "I might be unreasonable, but out of the two of us, I'm not the one with a death wish."

And with that she turned around herself and disappeared out of the sight and out of the streets, not looking back and not thinking twice about the consequences of both her choices and her words. It was getting darker and darker with every second, however even that didn't discourage her from leaving the town once and for all. Katherine reached the house without any nasty surprises, even though it was probably because there was some sort of a limit there and she clearly had reached it already.

She threw all her stuff into the bag just as she did many days ago when leaving the town that now seemed like a paradise compared to this one, not willing to stay there any longer, ready to travel during the night as long as it meant that she'd be leaving. Nothing held her there anymore as even that fake feeling of safety was crushed to bits and pieces in few hours time and she was too scared to think what else might've been crushed if she decided to stay.

Darkness outside wasn't inviting, but she slammed the door behind, determined to run and crawl again if needed, but instead came face-to-face with the very same man leaning to the car right outside the house. She furrowed her eyebrows looking at him, noticing a bag hanging over his shoulder and a little smirk curving his lips.

"Hope you don't mind me joining you. Let's be honest – it greatly increases your chances of surviving."


End file.
